Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

New details made public Tuesday show Clarence Rogstad was on hallucinogenic drugs when he disappeared and drowned in the East River.

Rogstad disappeared after leaving his home in Bellevue last March. After a widely-publicized search involving volunteers, horseback riders, and trained dogs, the 23-year-old man's body was found in the East River.

Toxicology tests released by Medical Examiner Al Klimek show Rogstad had hallucinogenic drugs in his blood when he died: Psilocyn, which comes from psychedelic mushrooms, and THC, a chemical in marijuana.

"The mushroom creates euphoria and a hallucinogenic much like you would have with acid or LSD," Klimek explained.

The medical examiner earlier reported Rogstad had alcohol and marijuana in his system. Klimek now can clarify that Rogstad had only a small amount of alcohol in his system.

Rogstad's wife said her newlywed husband expressed concerns about his mother and calmly walked out the door of their apartment to go for a walk. But even as the billboards and signs were still going up to search for the missing man, investigators already had some clues that not all was right when Rogstad left his apartment March 12th.

"He did not leave under controlled circumstances. He ran away from his apartment, across a plowed field," Klimek said. "When you're under the influence of this, you're going to be acting erratic. You're not going to acting yourself."

The sheriff department says if they'd known Rogstad left under the influence of drugs, it would have changed the way they searched for him, even if it's hard to second-guess the outcome.

"Obviously that would have brought more red flags and officers to the scene, as opposed to 'My husband walked away. I don't know where he went,'" Captain John Gossage said.

We were unable to reach Rogstad's family for comment.

The sheriff's department say psilocyn is a drug that's prevalent in our area. They questioned the person who sold drugs to Rogstad and continue to track where the drugs came from. So far there are no arrests.

Dr. Jane Witman is a toxicologist at Aurora BayCare Medical Center. She said the mushrooms are not grown around here, though the sheriff's department says they are readily available to buy.

"In low doses they distort reality and in high doses they cause outright hallucinations," Dr. Witman said. "They can get agitated so, yes, they can be very restless, and if you see something terrifying and you react to it, that would be erratic behavior to the rest of us."

Klimek says Rogstad's cause of death was hypothermia and drowning, but the combination of marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms will be probably be listed as contributing factors.

Toxicology tests made public Tuesday confirmed that Clarence Rogstad, 23, had psilocyn, tetrahydrocannabinol and alcohol in his system, but Al Klimek, Brown County?s interim medical examiner, said none of the compounds caused his death. Psilocyn causes hallucinations from the mushrooms. Tetrahydrocannabinol is the active ingredient in marijuana.

Rogstad walked away from the Bellevue apartment he shared with his wife late April 9.

-------------------------------------------------------------

His mother:On March 12, 2004 my son and his new wife of only 2 months, they were married on Jan. 9,2004 did some foil wrapped, chocolate covered mushrooms. The candybar was about the size of your pinky. She ate half,he a whole one. He started to experience voices in his head, mean voices, they were telling him he had to go somewhere but didn't tell his wife where. He got very emotional, started crying, calling out to Jesus. This went off and on for about an hour. She got him to puke, then eat some food. It didn't help. He bolted from their apartment. He never came home. She called us the next morning, and for the next month, police, family, and community searched for him. On April 9, 2004 he was found floating in the river close to their apartment. I will never know why his life was taken at only 23 years old. His wife of 19 is now a widow after only 2 months of marriage, and as a 3 month wedding anniversary gift she got her husband back in a body bag. He was bright, handsom, and a delight to family and friends alike. But its all over now, nothing but pain and suffering to all who knew him. I would know I'm his MOM. Think twice about all the hype you hear about these mushrooms. Is the trip worth the risk of it being your last? A broken hearted Mother

Very good advise. The government has lied to us so much about the effects of various substances that we no longer know what to believe. Be careful to do a lot of reading and research before injesting any mind altering substance.

> Is the trip worth the risk of it being your last?

Life is a risk. If I were to avoid everything that may put me in the grave, I might as well be dead.